Portland Metblogs » por_aaron

McScrewed in the Couve

por_aaron — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:45:23 +0000

Every few months, someone, somewhere, gets their 15 minutes of fame as the unlucky recipient of some sort of oddball object within their fast food meal. If you’re lucky it’s just an object and not a body part. It was only a matter of time before such a situation would come to the Portland area. Last week, Justin (who just happens to be one of our regular commenters) became, in his words, McScrewed.

Should Public Agencies Sell Commemorative Trinkets?

por_aaron — Thu, 10 May 2007 12:46:03 +0000

Should public agencies spend time and money creating commemorative trinkets that likely won’t be purchased by more than a handful of people?

I would argue that the agency should focus on providing service (whatever it may be for that particular agency) in the most efficient way possible, and eliminate frivolous expenses.

On a related note, you can now buy your TriMet Commemorative Rose Festival One-Day Passes, available at a discount, because well, it’s all taxpayer-subsidized anyway.

Portland / Pornland

por_aaron — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:02:27 +0000

Portland Man with Reading Material
Originally uploaded by ahockley.

Given that Portland has more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the US, I guess it shouldn’t shock me too much when I saw this older gentleman in his motorized scooter cruising off MAX… with his porn magazine hanging out of the back pocket.

The State of the TriMet

por_aaron — Tue, 08 May 2007 13:59:59 +0000

Portland is known for having a pretty good public transportation system, yet folks have concerns about various things, whether it is rude people on the bus, fare increases, advertising, MAX train length, and delays.

That said, they seem to do a pretty good job of moving most of the people around, most of the time. Are folks generally happy? Generally unhappy? If you had the ability to change something, while working within the confines of reality, what would you change? Money is the key… if you say “add more trains/buses”, you need to find money. If you say “increase the public subsidy”, are you going to raise taxes or cut other services? Let’s hear it folks… we all have our dreams, but if you had to be realistic, what would you change about TriMet?

Activism Gone Stupid

por_aaron — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:06:38 +0000

I don’t see anything yet on bikeportland, but apparently a group of cyclists decided the best way to make a point this morning was to block traffic during the morning commute and slowly make their way downtown.

Generally I find that pissing off a bunch of people is a poor way to get your point across, whatever that point might be.

Anyone know more about what was going on and what these folks were trying to do?

Fuck the Tram

por_aaron — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:01:55 +0000

Hey man, my post title is just quoting the sign.

Yay for free speech.

Galiliee Cafe and the Familial Torch

por_aaron — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 04:22:19 +0000

First, it was “Hey, the Galilee Cafe has some pretty good food.”

A month later, it was “Hey, looks like someone torched the Galilee Cafe in a hate crime.”

Now, four months later, it’s “Hey, looks like this might have been an insurance fraud scam. They just arrested the owner’s brother for arson.” Oh, and the owner? He’s been ordered to be deported but is fighting the case.

I’m pretty sure this is not a model for the whole “coming to America and living your dreams” fantasies…

Appointed Civil Service Overlords

por_aaron — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:57:59 +0000

Why should you care about Portland’s proposed charter reform?

Because under the proposed system, the mayor can fire all of the civil service board commissioners, then the mayor gets to pick the replacements. As b!X would say, that’s a curiously strong mayor.

Hoping for Good Beer… at the Fair

por_aaron — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 17:54:36 +0000

When it comes to county fairs, the most popular and largest one around is the Clark County fair held just north of Vancouver in August. The event has been alcohol-free, but that will change this year with the announcement that they’ll have an area serving beer and wine. As I read the article about the changes, they noted that it might mean some big sponsorships.

While I fully realize that typical county fair beer would probably be “clear beer” and crappy mass-market fare such as Bud and Coors, I have to at least wonder if the organizers are considering featuring some local microbrews both to support local businesses and offer some beer that you can’t read through. If you want to let them know you agree, send an e-mail to ccfair@clarkcofair.com with your opinion. Perhaps if enough of us ask for decent beer, we’ll get it!

Seriously, Bus Riders, Get a Clue

por_aaron — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:57:22 +0000

Granted, I’m new to the whole riding the bus thing, but I just have to ask: is it really that hard to exit through the rear door? I mean, other than the fact that a bit of common sense might indicate that it would make sense, TriMet has put giant 4 foot wide signs in the buses, yet folks still head to the front of the bus, clogging up the traffic flow and making the whole process take longer.

Get a clue, folks!

(does this rant mean I’m no longer a transit n00b?)